Sect and Clan

n/a

Other

Woogity (Personal for Bojan Petrov): Upon waking up, you will find that your haven seems bizarrely cold - to the point that you aren't able to feel your fingers after a few minutes. There's a generally of eerie feeling surrounding the area.

Roske's kitten mews piteously and seems easily startled. While it has in the past been playfully aggressive with you it now seems terrified, and hisses whenever you draw near.

The feeling never seems to leave. You have the Flaw: Eerie Presence for the night.

Woogity (Personal for Victor Roske): Upon waking up, you will find that your haven seems bizarrely cold - to the point that you aren't able to feel your fingers after a few minutes. There's a generally of eerie feeling surrounding the area.

Your kitten mews piteously and seems easily startled. While it has in the past been playfully aggressive with Petrov, it seems terrified of him now.

The feeling follows you to some extent after you leave the haven. - particularly when you're around Petrov.

Lack of Dreams Before Waking (Personal for TJ Phillips): You awake from sleep having no dreams whatsoever that you can remember, but you are filled with a strange sense of serenity. You feel as though your body and soul are grounded only by the thinnest of cords, and you are content with this development. Your aura feels suffused with a brilliant white light.

Bureaucracy

Bureaucracy x1: The CAIR demonstration is being cited for various minor, technical infractions as a kind of gentle FUCK YOU from the city. that they harassed for so long. They pissed off everyone in the planning process

Bureaucracy x2: CAIR seems to have pissed off the Mayor somehow. Word has come down that if CAIR tries to files complaints or suits, the city will 'aggressively' defend itself.

Bureaucracy x3: Nasty drug bust went down against a department head in another section. He's going away for a long time.

Bureaucracy x4: Someone is looking to increase their network of informal influence in the area bureaucracy.

Bureaucracy x5: Bunch of organized crime indictments coming down in about a week, after the Devil's Thursday stuff dies down.

The informal networking effort is apparently somehow related to the drug bust. Not clear if the new guy caused the bust, or is just an opportunist.

Bureaucracy x6: Looks like they at least knew about the bust in advance. Still not clear if they caused it.

Church

Church x1: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) rally occurred today. Over the past week, the Muslim churches have been talking it up, and the Christian ones have been making dark comments about radical Islam.

The Dogwood tree outside the window of the hospital where Christine Darkwater died continues to bloom. There are whispers that it will never stop. It's kept blooming for far beyond what a dogwood tree's life cycle should allow. It is attracting a small but dedicated group of self-appointed caretakers.

Church x2: The study of the dogwood tree is becoming somewhat more rigorous. Definite schools of thought are springing up around the more popular theories. One prominent group believe that the dogwood blooming is a sign of God's favor for the city's chosen path. Another believes that it is a sign from God to reaffirm his existence to previously doubting believers.

The attendance at the CAIR rally was far below what was expected, and the number of counter-demonstrators was higher than expected.

Church x3: The Diocese just does not know what to do with the dogwood tree. Miracles happen in the Bible, not in real life... The debate is ongoing.
Other groups believe that the dogwood tree is:

Showing disfavor towards Christine Darkwater, and happiness that the forces of good triumphed.

Church x4: These is some displeasure that the hospital where the dogwood tree is located has trimmed it a bit. Some people have attempted to steal flowers from it to sell. Others sell counterfeit flowers.

Other groups believe that the dogwood tree is:

Showing favor towards Christine Darkwater.

A sign from the "Great Mother Spirit" of the need to focus on life, hope and humanity rather than capitalism, materialism, and despair.

Both these groups are considered crazy by more mainstream groups. The pro/anti Darkwater groups really don't get along.

Church x5: Some more ... colorful religious leaders are warning their flock that the period from the start of Lent until early summer is a time of great trials and tribulations. They cite the incidents at Madison Square Gardens and the Crüxshadows concert last year and the AOL Time-Warner incident the year before.

Finance

Finance x1: The effects of the recent indictments are still being felt through the financial community. Several dozen start-ups have been crippled by the indictment of key personnel and larger banks are thanking their lucky stars they dodged a bullet.

Finance x2: The employers and laid off workers are aggressively keeping the reasons for these layoffs under wraps. In fact, most of the people recently laid off have either retired, joined/founded start-ups or moved out of town.

Finance x3: Four weeks left to comply with Vontaug's new guidelines. Firms are scrambling to meet them... The recent layoffs are related to these new guidelines.

Finance x4: Part of the new Vontaug guidelines is a 'do not employ' list.

Finance x5: A handful of those recently fired had a reputation for questionable ethical practices.

Health

Health x1: Great. More crazies. This time it's "Devil's Thursday'" wackjobs. Damnit. At least the media is ignoring the 'dental attacks again.'

Health x2: Hospitals are quietly taking steps to prepare for a possible major health emergency, from "Devil's Thursday" or other incidents.

Health x3: A study is being set up in a new process that can convert blood types. Should be interesting to see what comes of this...

Several dental students have been quietly expelled from area schools after a Dean was tipped off to online footage featuring 'inappropriate' use of dental tools belonging to the schools. It appears there was a small, coordinated, private group behind this.

Health x4: The videos made by the expelled students are circulating quietly through area medical schools. Jesus. Those things just shouldn't be used like that. You get a distinct impression that the videos involve some sort of fetish play.

Health x5: Well, bizarre sex cultists dentists are better than ones that abuse poor people. But still. *shudder*. You get a copy of the video. It features extremely ... creative use of otherwise standard dental equipment. Filmed in an exam room used for teaching purposes.

High Society

High Society x1: The shame of it, the shame of it! Some riff-raff broke into a gated community, killed an innocent person and the police have not even made any arrests! Such nonsense is expected of the lesser classes, but should not happen to ones like us! Where is all that money we give to the NYPD going?

And why are those dirty radicals allowed to hold protests for their heathen death cults? CAIR should not be allowed! This country should return to its proper Judeo-Christian roots!

High Society x2: Youth these days are simply despicable. Dressing up in rags and masks form Sesame Street and robbing the museum! What is this city coming to? And look at all those people who were working for the mob!

High Society x3: There is no way that a vandal like that would break into the museum to steal that piece. Something else must have been stolen; something more valuable.

High Society x4: That little murdering bitch kicked his dog half to death!

High Society x5: Actually, nothing valuable was taken from the museum. Really. No one knows why the hell this happened.

High Society x6: He had propositioned that girl! Young enough to be his daughter! The shame of it. This cannot get out. We cannot allow the police to get away with ignoring us.

Industry

Industry x2: After delays, the planned suit against Vontaug is moving forward again. Should be filed soon.

Industry x3: Vontaug's production levels are disgustingly high. It's new expansions have been very successful again.

Legal

Legal x1: Round one of long-awaited wrongful termination suit have collapsed after many of the plaintiffs were indicted for various frauds in the big wave that hit recently. Another similar suit, however, is moving forward with different plaintiffs.

Big wave of indictments in the financial world went very, very well for the DA's office. Trials should be coming up this summer - the judges are not giving the accused any breaks this time.

Legal x2: Someone's put on retainer many of the most experienced defense lawyers in the city.

More indictments in the tube, not clear what for.

Legal x3:Someone got a really good source inside the mob and has been passing information to the prosecutors. Indictments coming next week, after the Devil's Thursday craziness passes by.

In fact, just about all of the plaintiffs in the wrongful termination suits were indicted recently.

Legal x4: The upcoming round of indictments might be somehow related to the previous round...

Legal x5: In fact, its more mob-related indictments, except this time its the mobsters themselves, not just their cronies in the financial world.

Legal x6: A private entity passed on the information used to get these waves of indictments. They are very concerned with maintaining secrecy here.

Legal x7: It was Vontaug.

Media

Media x1: The Darren West case has evolved into a witch hunt. Many of his former associates are being purged. There is a probe into him at the NYPD.

The New York Times briefly covered a series of weird shit happening in the Club district in Manhattan. A few days afterwards, the Dirge ran a thinly disguised editorial about "the disturbing tendency or some local and national papers to print rumors and hearsay as fact." The Times and Dirge have traded occasional snarky op-ed pieces since then. Basic gist: The Dirge is a two-bit wannabe that wishes it was as good as the Times. The Times is a tabloid rag that runs editorials on page one disguised as news, is on the payroll of the Democratic National Party and never saw a fact it didn't try to distort.

Media x2: There is speculation that there may have been deliberate efforts by Darren West and unnamed people in the NYPD to perform and coverup illegal NYPD activities in the fall of '06.

The Dirge did cover the weird happenings, but it was a rather dry article several pages in the "New York" section. The article highlighted the level of hearsay, the lack of solid evidence from nearby cameras.

Media x3: There are a lot of guys being fingered in this West thing. Its not clear how wide a reach he had, but it was big.

Word has it, Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger was apoplectic when he read the Dirge editorial. Executive editor Bill Kellor was also displeased.

Media x4: CNN is really, really antsy. Lots of meetings with very high people.

The Dirge "Random Atrocity/Freak Incident of the Week" betting pool is moving heavily towards "Occult Group found Doing Weird Murders" or "Some Lucasta Bullshit". "Devil's Thursday, Mark II" and "The Return of Hadrian Evans" are also popular candidates.

Media sources got anonymous phone calls in advance of the raid on Lawrence-Kross' house. Claimed to be a cop.

Media x5: Word has it, a couple of very high up people at CNN are up for "early retirement" over the West episodes. Only their long tenure and long records of success are preventing them from being publicly purged.

The Times is planning a series on corruption in area newspapers. The Dirge has been thumbing its nose at them for a while, and has even seen increasing circulation numbers, while the Times circulation is steadily decreasing.

Media x6: Sulzberger is pushing for a campaign of character assassination against the Dirge and its editors. Less radical Times leaders are trying to calm him down.

Occult

Occult x1: Lucasta worship has reached a feverish pitch. "The Age of the Lightbringer" is said to be at hand. The idea that Lucasta is capable of walking on water has become firmly entrenched in public perceptions of the figure. This tension can't keep building forever. It will snap eventually, and the longer it is until that happens, the more ... exciting things will be.

Occult x2: The dogwood tree outside the window of the hospital where Christine Darkwater died continues to bloom. There are whispers that it will never stop. It's kept blooming for far beyond what a dogwood tree's life cycle should allow.

Factions of Lucasta worshipers are unsure about the timing of Lucasta's return, but there is an emerging consensus that he is coming back. Soon.

Occult x3: There is a growing market for flowers from the 'Holy Dogwood.'

As the anniversary of Devil's Thursday approaches, there is a very loud faction which claims that Lucasta will return a year (to the day) after Devil's Thursday. This return would, in fact, be occurring tonight...

Occult x4: There is a definite sense of excitement and apprehension on the anniversary of Devil's Thursday.

The unofficial leaders of New York's 'respectable' occult studies community are working hard to get out the message that they are just responsible academics, not ravening cultists.

Occult x5: Several of the nicer Gaian, Druidic and otherwise benign cults have made pitiful attempts to reach out to the media to establish a good image, but it isn't working well.

Occult x6: Something big is happening. Tonight. Be outside, near the river.

Police

Police x1: A probe has been started into possible crimes commited by Darren West in the fall of 2006.

Tensions and frustrations are rising at the NYPD. The upcoming anniversary of Devil's Thursday has people on edge. The CAIR rally was a disaster waiting to happen (although fortunately, it fizzled). There is increasing bitchitude coming from rich people over some strange murder two weeks ago, who seem to think that the world is ending. If only they knew...

Police x2: The probe into West is finding disturbing things.

A picture of Count von Count has been attached to a few department dartboards. Goddamnit, why do we get all the weirdos?

A few of the more superstitious members of the NYPD have this time of year pegged for really bad, really fucked up shit. To their credit, over the past few years, there has been a general tendency for weird, fucked up shit piling up in early-to-mid spring leading up to an orgy of fucked up shit around early May.

Weird shit with that body pulled out of the narrows. Forensics ain't talking, though.

Police x3: If only those rich assholes knew what was on the security tapes at that murdered rich guy's house.

Department higher-ups are attempting, with little success, to prevent officers from carrying additional weaponry and body armor over as Devil's Thursday approaches. Tensions are rising. Tempers are tight in the department.

The SWAT Team is on a slightly higher alert than normal. The police dispatchers have been warned to pay careful attention to their orders. Anything suspicious is to be reported.

Apocalyptic literature advocating "The Dawn of the Age of the Light-Bringer" has been found in a few personal lockers. The officers were immediately placed on unpaid leave and required to get psych evaluations. Department high-ups are not happy.

Police x4: Something was seriously messed up with the whole Thumbs incident. Forensics is trying to keep it quiet though...

...speaking of which. That guy they found in the Narrows? Totally exsanguinated. Exsanguinated and crushed up something good.

I mean, that rich guy was totally trying to hit some piece of jailbait - no way she was over the age of consent.

Someone is attempting to make friends in the department, with varying degrees of success.

The NYPD has quietly gone to high alert for May 9-13. They don't know what to expect, but they've already gotten a lot of weird shit to deal with. What is worse - all of it has been fairly mundane. There is a definite sense of waiting for the shoe to drop.

Police x5: Rich bastard probably had it coming. Although, it looks like his cock got ran through a ringer. Like she damn near squeezed it off. Doubt he enjoyed that one.

The Chief has been spending a lot of quality time with his good friend, Picardy.

Someone has been pushing, hard, to get the recent bizarre shit in the club district investigated.

People are worried about the Narrows body. It hits too close to the Kamigawa/Darkwater cases.

Police x6: Some higher up in the FBI called in some favors. Apparently something weird went down regarding a latino family in the Bronx. Internal memos insist they're on vacation and that they made no 911 calls before doing so...

Politics

Politics x1: Word is out that someone in CAIR really pissed off the Mayor's office. No one really knows who, or why, but got, mayor's pissed.

Politics x2: The mayor has let it know that he is willing to spend some political capital if necessary to defend against CAIR allegations of mistreatment. The NYPD and various city bureaucracies are very happy to hear this.

Street

Street x1: The looming drug war at Coney Island seems to have been held off temporarily by a massive influx of cops... Stupid cops.

Street x2: There is not clear successor to Vinnie. Most of the independent operators who could move in don't have the reach and no big organization is going to let another move into the area. So far, Throat Cutter has kept a lid on things, but who knows what will happen next...

Transportation x3: The strongest resistance to Vontaug's new guidelines is coming from the shippers and truckers you know to be dirty.

Transportation x5: Word is to keep an eye out for a guy in a gray-green suit with sunglasses and an earpiece.

Transportation x6: Description sounds like that guy who was in the press all the time last year. Wasn't he that guy in the state department?

Transportation x7: Dude, it's that Hadrian Evans guy who was involved with the AOL Time-Warner thing and the concert that went horribly, horribly wrong.

Underworld

Underworld x1: Someone took down Hawk! Word has it that the guy who did it is looking to meet with some big shot overseas.

Cease fire on between the big organizations.

Underworld x2: There are wild rumors flying around that there is a huge anti-organized crime FBI task force in town. Someone's taken down a lot of mob-connected guys lately. Not clear who, how, or where.

It was Omorescu - the same guy who met with Throat Cutter and walked out unscathed, while one of TCH's thugs went out in a body bag.

Sparrow is fucking pissed.

Underworld x3: We lost some financial contacts recently.

Might not be the FBI - might be a new organization that hasn't showed its hand yet.

Rumor has it this Omorescu guy left a trail of bodies a mile long in East Europe.

Underworld x4: The recent string of indictments have crippled the mob's contacts in the financial world. Big, big uproar at the leadership level.

Fingers are being wildly pointed. There is currently a cease fire between the large organizations until the heat dies off from the financial area, but it is not clear how long it will last.

Omorescu is looking to meet with someone named Ismael.

When you think of Sparrow, think murderous rage. Oh, and Sparrow also seems to have had some kind of mental snap over this.

Underworld x5: Some of the leadership is quietly convinced that Vontaug is somehow behind all their recent troubles. They're talking about trying to strike back. Hard. Soon.

And by murderous rage, I mean suicidal. I mean, Sparrow is suicidally pissed off - I'm really, really glad I am not Omorescu. I mean, at this point, Sparrow'd probably detonate a nuke in NYC if she had one, just to get Omorescu. Christ, I don't know what got into him... Shit, if you're an assassin, you should know sometimes your friends die. That's how it works. Especially when you go after someone like Omorescu.

University

University x1: The Council on American-Islamic Relations had a rally. The college dems made a meager showing. The College republicans made a stronger showing at the counter-demonstration. The rally didn't go too well for CAIR.

Beer! Beer! Beer! Despite the best efforts of administrators throughout the city, dozens of "Devil's Thursday' parties are going on this week and into next week. Popular these include "Dress as your favorite serial killer" and "Ninja night!"

University x2: Columbia students in off-green suits, ski masks and ear pieces armed with NERF guns 'reenacted' the 2005 AOL Time-Warner raid. On an administration building. The Columbia administration Is. Not. Amused. There is talk of expelling the perpetrators, if caught.

University x3: A rapid effort by the Columbia grounds crew took down hundreds of posters featuring Spike Lee, Hadrian Evans, Elvis and Lucasta advocating a day of marijuana and civil disobedience.

University x4: Some sort of bizarre pornographic medical fetish video is beginning to make rounds on campuses.

University x5: There have been some rearrangements among some of the informal power structures in area universities.